Monday, July 14th, 1030.
The day had finally arrived.
The day Luke would participate in the First Trial of Ascendance!
The sun had just set, casting its warm glow across the twilight sky, bathing it in shades of orange, purple, and blue.
Although the sun had set and the day had ended, Luke's had only just begun.
He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze landing on the uneven ceiling of his bedroom. He turned his head to the left, looking at the rays of the setting sun filtering through the window.
"It's already evening," he murmured. "When did I go to sleep? Was it today, or... yesterday? I cannot recall."
It was as Henry had ntioned to him the last ti they t. As the seventh day approached, the frequency of the visions increased. Moreover, the duration of ti he slept for also increased.
The visions were a result of the Spirit Crucible calling to him.
His drastic change in the sleep cycle, however, was because of the excessive spirit energy flowing out from him. This, in turn, caused him to be so exhausted and ntally drained out that his body had no other option but to try to recover through sleep.
Luke released a long and helpless sigh, "Today's finally the day, huh?"
He paused for a mont before adding, "Yeah, I can feel it. I fear if I go to sleep again, I might not ever wake up. Or that I would wake up sowhere else."
The youth didn't know if what he said made sense. But deep down he had a gut feeling that his words wouldn't have been far from the truth.
He rolled over, put his hand under the pillow, and retrieved the triangular piece of silver. The symbols and markings on it had strangely dimd.
"That guy was right," he softly muttered. "This sure helped a lot."
He didn't know what it was, just that it was highly effective in helping him have a good sleep with zero nightmares of him burning in flas.
The other talisman was placed near the entrance to his house on the ground floor. Although Luke did not know if that worked like Henry said it would.
He put his feet on the ground and slowly rose, lazily stretching his arms while yawning. He then walked to his table and casually opened the drawer.
Seeing the coin inside, he couldn't help but scoff. "Bastard's back, after all."
Gazing at the other side of the coin that was facing up, he montarily found himself in a daze when he saw the symbol of a four-leaf clover.
It was a symbol of fortune.
"Yeah right!" Luke slamd the drawer shut.
He was about to go down to wash up, when he suddenly stopped. He stepped closer to the window and noticed that a black carriage had suddenly parked right outside the entrance to his house.
Luke's eyes narrowed imdiately and he couldn't help but think to himself, Could it be them? The secret organization Henry is a part of?
He couldn't help but nervously gulp. The carriage driver was nicely dressed in all black. He wore a top hat that made it difficult to see his appearance from Luke's angle.
I've never seen a carriage driver dress so nicely, he thought.
Suddenly, his eyes widened when he saw the carriage driver turn his head and look in his direction.
Luke hurriedly retreated a few steps, his back now against the wooden cupboard.
What the fuck?! Did he sense my gaze? That's crazy!
And then it suddenly dawned on him.
Yeah, it's definitely them!
Occultists from that secret organization!
He took deep breaths and told himself, Okay, calm down! Calm down! Henry said they'd be here. I'll just get dressed and et them downstairs. Yeah, nothing to worry...
Having made up his mind, he quickly went downstairs to wash himself. A few minutes later, he returned to his bedroom and took out his finest clothing from the cupboard.
Of course, most of them were second-hand clothes. However, this was the best that Luke had got.
He put on a pair of black trousers and a plain white shirt. Since the trousers were second-hand, they didn't fit him perfectly. So he had to put suspenders on, ensuring that his pants didn't fall.
He then put on a dark-colored waistcoat and buttoned it up. Then, he tied the cravat around his neck. Finally, he put on his coat.
After neatly combing his dark blonde hair, parting it on the side, he gazed at the scar left behind by the wound on the top-right corner of his forehead.
The wound was still fresh, so he refrained from wearing a top hat or a flat cap.
He took a few deep breaths and looked at his reflection in the cracked mirror, encouraging himself, "Okay, you got this!"
As he set the hand mirror down on his study table, he failed to notice that his reflection lingered for just a mont longer, watching him even when he turned away.
Luke descended the staircase and finally exited his house, locking the door behind him.
"Abel."
"Ahh!" Luke suddenly flinched when soone called out to him.
He turned sideways and saw Aunt Peggy standing at the entrance to her house, her gaze shifting between him and the black carriage.
"Are you in trouble?" She asked with a look of concern, hinting at the carriage as well as the strange driver.
Luke looked at the carriage, and then back at the kind old woman. His lips ford a gentle smile and he answered, "No, Aunt Peggie, everything's alright."
"Then why is that gloomy man here?" She said in a hushed voice, pointing at the carriage driver.
"Well, that, uh." Luke tried to co up with a good excuse. "Right, it's for a job interview. They've co to pick up."
"Pick you up?" Aunt Peggy squinted her eyes, not quite believing what he said. But in the end, she nodded. "As long as you're not in trouble."
Luke's heart ward. Aunt Peggy had been very nice to him ever since he'd transmigrated into this world. In fact, she had been this way to Abel as well.
She was even kind enough to cook food for him in the past few days, despite not having all that much for herself and her family. This spoke volus about her character.
"Aunt Peggy, everything's fine." He suddenly hugged her, catching her off guard. "Yeah, everything will be fine..." His voice trailed off into a whisper.
That was more of an assurance to himself than to the old lady.
She gently patted his back, comforting him, "The Lord be with you, my dear. I'm sure you'll do just fine at the interview."
"Yeah." Luke smiled warmly at her, and then bid her farewell.
He then approached the carriage, his gaze drawn toward the finely-dressed carriage driver who was looking at him with indifferent eyes.
"Hello," he greeted awkwardly, but received no response.
However, he received a greeting from soone most unexpected instead.
"A very good evening to you, Mr. Bishop!"
Luke shifted his gaze and saw a brown-haired lady with light blue eyes staring at him through the window with a bright smile.
"It's you!" Luke's eyes widened in shock. A mont later, his brows knit into a frown, and he grumbled, "I knew you were suspicious!"
Emily Thompson opened the carriage door for him as she let out a soft chuckle, finding Luke's response very amusing.
"Suspicious? My, Mr. Bishop, you wound ! I prefer 'mysterious'. It sounds far more elegant."
Luke simply rolled his eyes and hopped inside the carriage. Inside, there was yet another person that he knew.
"Good evening, Mr. Bishop," Henry greeted with a polite smile.
"Hey, what's up?" Luke responded casually.
Henry couldn't help but subconsciously look up. What? What does he an?
"You must forgive Henry. He's not quite fluent in your peculiar dialect." Emily's lips curled up into a playful smirk.
The carriage started moving, headed to its destination, of which Luke knew nothing about. He sat across from Emily and Henry, looking at the two of them intently.
He then crossed his arms and gazed at Emily in a displeased manner, "You bumped into purposely that day, huh. I suppose you're from the sa organization as him? You probably wanted to carry out your due diligence on ."
"Oh?" Emily turned to look at Henry with a questioning gaze. "What's this about an organization? Henry, do tell, how much have you shared with Mr. Bishop?"
"...Not much." Henry turned his head away, looking at the scenery outside the window.
She then turned to look at Luke and smiled, "Rest assured, Mr. Bishop, we an you no harm."
Luke scoffed. "Well, isn't that reassuring."
Emily ignored his mocking tone and asked with the sa smile on her face, "So, are you ready to enter the First Trial?"
Luke took a deep breath and nervously nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"Splendid!"
"Are we going there now?" Luke asked. "The Spirit Curcible, I an."
"Not quite," Emily said with a slight smile. "We have another stop to make first. There's soone who wishes to et you."
"Who?" Luke asked, his voice laced with slight anxiousness.
"The Director."
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